Reply #15: You nailed it Supernova

[BlackVelvetElvis]

At least from a NC perspective. The eastern part of the state votes democratic and they are hurting BAD. Kerry better show up.
Here's the facts on eastern NC:

http://www.nccppr.org/easternnc2.html

* Poverty – At 17.6 percent, the average poverty rate for eastern counties greatly exceeds the North Carolina average of 12.6 percent and the U.S. average of 13.3 percent.  Poverty rates exceed 20 percent in 11 of the 41 Eastern counties, and all but five Eastern counties exceed the statewide average.  Poverty rates varied greatly for the East, ranging from a low of 8.1 percent in Dare County to a high of 25.7 percent in Tyrrell County – the highest in the state. 

* Education – The Center also found the East lags the state in education, with the highest dropout rates, the lowest levels of adult literacy, and the lowest percentage of residents with high school and college degrees.  A statewide look at literacy by the North Carolina Literacy Resource Center, for example, found that Eastern North Carolina has far more adults clustered at the lowest level of adult literacy than either the Piedmont or mountain region of the state.

* Unemployment – Eastern unemployment rates, averaging 5.5 percent for the year 2000, are higher than the state average of 3.6 percent and exceed the unemployment rates for the Piedmont and mountain counties.  The Center’s analysis found this to be a long-term problem, with the East’s average unemployment the highest in the state from 1990-2000, an 11-year period.  In October, Robeson County’s monthly unemployment rate reached 12.5 percent – the highest in the state.  Manufacturing jobs are being lost at a faster clip than in the industrialized Piedmont, though not as fast as in the mountain region.  These generally are being replaced by lower-paying service sector jobs, if they are replaced at all.

* Per Capita Income – As a region, Eastern North Carolina’s counties have the lowest per capita income of the state’s three regions, at $20,536.  That’s 22 percent lower than the Piedmont’s $25,088 and 9 percent lower than the mountain counties’ average of $22,409.

I'm sure many other areas of the south mirror eastern NC in these areas. I feel people in these areas need someone who takes an interest in them and need a pol who they can identify with. I believe that the man or woman who can do that would superscede where they came from.

I repeat: Kerry needs to campaign in the south!